“Alex is off to a slow start,” he said, “and I’m surprised because he did go play in the KHL. But he’s having to get integrated into this new system. We put him on the right side, and now he’s back on the left side.

“He needs to play better. I don’t have the answers, obviously; I’m not running the hockey operations.”

When asked what he thought his star player — the one with the $124 million contract — could do better, Leonsis said, “You know, he gets double-teamed all the time. He has to keep moving. That’s the one thing I’ve noticed when he doesn’t have a good game – he seems to be more stationary.”